Who is Richard Zowie?

I was born in Louisiana, raised in Kansas and Texas, went to college in Florida, served in the Army and spent time in Northern California before living in San Antonio for six years. Now, I live in Michigan and work as a writer. My day job is writing for a newspaper while, when not there, I devote myself to freelance writing: news, features, columns, blogs and fiction. When it comes to writing, I look at it this way: I don’t know how to do anything else, and I don’t want to do anything else. My work has appeared at Saworship.com, the San Antonio Express-News, the Flint Journal’s Flint Community Newspapers and Air Force News.

Some Frequently Asked Questions about me…

Is Zowie really your real name? Yes.

You’re kidding, right? No.

How do you pronounce it? Rhymes with these words: wowie, Howie (as in Howie Mandel from Deal or No Deal) and Maui.

Where did it come from? The Zowie family originated in Germany (Bavaria, to be specific). My grandfather’s birthname was Sylvester Sebastian Zahnweh (pronounced “Tsahn-veh” and means “Toothache” in German), and a few years later his name was Americanized. He became Sebastian Paul Zowie.

When did you become a Christian? October 1981, reassurance of salvation April 1984.

You seem to be a quirky person with a bizarre sense of humor. Why? I’ve always loved to laugh and enjoy making others laugh. Also, I suffer from a chronic desire to keep myself constantly occupied and entertained. If I’m not writing or working on something that has to be done, then I say or do goofy things. Primarily, they’re designed to make me laugh, but as I get older, I think I’m getting better at making others laugh. Still, considering the garbage that many Americans think is funny today (Knocked Up, for example), I tend to roll my eyes when people tell me my jokes aren’t working. And, frankly, most of what the world considers funny either bores me to tears or is simply revolting. Especially if it’s a Kevin Smith movie.

When are you ever not joking around? When dealing with finances, medical issues or other serious family matters.

Who are your favorite authors to read? Ray Bradbury, Harry Turtledove, Stephen King, Frank Peretti. Michael Crichton. Haven’t read Ted Dekker yet, but I’m told he’s very good. The late Mr. Crichton had an exceptional gift for taking complex technical information and making it very readable. I wish more “hard science fiction” writers would emulate his brilliant pacing style.

Do you ever receive e-mail from readers? Sometimes. It’s a mixture of positive and negative. One e-mail even accused me of being a closet homosexual due to my criticism of Sean Penn and how overrated he is (regarding his Academy Award for Milk). This accusation is one of the funniest pieces of hate mail I’ve ever read and qualifies as “heterophobia”. It’s always hilarious, howbeit sad, when complete strangers suddenly think they’re experts on what goes on in your mind. Besides, if this gentleman actually spoke to people who know me, he’d realize how absurd his assessment was.

What’s your favorite Bible to use? King James Version. Zondervan and New Open Study Bible editions are ones I’ve used and liked.

If you ever became famous, do you think you and your family would ever do a reality television show? Absolutely not.

Ok, so what’s your favorite pen? Papermate, of course.

What’s your favorite Papermate? Pro-fit, Flexigrip Ultra, Silkwriter (old style) and Comfortmate. I also like the 1.2 and the see-through Dynagrips.

Are there any Papermates you don’t like? Flexigrip Elite (the barrels tend to get greasy and are hard to grip), Apex (barrel’s too big and too hard to grip, and the 1.6 mm ink dispenser is too big and tends to cause the ink to clog); the new Silkwriter (the grip’s great but the 1.6 mm barrel causes the same problems the Apex does)

Whom did you vote for in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections? Two people: John McCain and not Barack Obama!

Why are you an independent conservative? Because since the era of President Reagan, the Republicans have more than proven that government bureaucracy, irresponsible spending and the lack of common sense are hardly exclusive to the Democratic party.

What advice do you give to aspiring writers? Read and write. Constantly. Network. Be open to criticism. Never, ever quit.

How long have you been writing columns for the Beeville Bee-Picayune? Since February 2001.

Like this:

Just reading over your blog- I’m a big fan of Buddy Holly and the whole accident thing haunts me, so I read about it a lot. I actually more or less left the faith in favor of a more ‘agno/athiest’ approach, but I have no kick against you or your forthright opinions. I think that from a standpoint of the ‘zany sense of humor’ you and I could get along well and I’d like to read on and have you take a look at what I’m up to- I’m just starting up a blog (I’ve done a number of them, but I’m trying to get serious about it) that talks about music of the ’50’s and ’60’s. It gives folks a chance to view videos when available and purchase an MP3 download of the song, even read an article or visit the artist’s site if they have one. It really impressed me that you talked to JP Richardson Jr. I promise I won’t become a pest to you, but I think the internet offers a lot of promise for people to connect and encourage one another. Again, nice work on the blog and please keep it up. -joe